A Little Fall of Time
by The Lonely Goddess
Summary: The Doctor finds a girl covered in blood that's not her own traveling the streets. He takes her on an adventure she'll never forget. Rated for character death and blood.


Eponine stood behind the barricade and her heart nearly stopped when she saw the gun aimed for Marius. She started forward, "Marius!" she screamed. "Look out!"

With a loud bang Marius fell backward into Eponine's arms. Eponine slowly lowered to the ground and held Marius close. "I've got you monsieur Marius." she cooed, laying him in her lap.

Marius smiled up at her. "Cosette." he stroked Eponine's brown hair.

"No Marius. It's me. Eponine." she whispered. "You know me." her voice trembled.

"Cosette, I'm glad you're here." he smiled and his eyes fluttered shut. "I love you."

Eponine held him close and sobbed into his hair. "Marius, please. I love you. _I love you_!" she wailed loudly.

Later she found herself walking alone in the rain, Marius' blood sliding off her body with the rain water. She shivered and her gaze wavered.

"Whoa there!" a man yelled and caught her as the pavement had almost became a permanent fixture of her face. "Oh. You came from the barricade." he straightened Eponine and looked at her. He tilted his head a bit and pulled off her hat and inhaled sharply as her hair cascaded over her face. "A girl!" then he grinned. "A girl! And you're hurt. So sorry. Come along. We'll get you fixed up right away!"

The next thing Eponine knew she was sitting on a chair surrounded by a golden dome with round things on the walls and some sort of piece of furniture in the center of the room while the man ran around. When his hair dried she saw that it was wild and unruly. He wore a strange outfit with a long flapping coat which he tossed on the piece of furniture.

"So!" the man said, looking at her with an almost manic glint in his eyes. "What's your name?"

Eponine blinked. "My name is Eponine..."

"Such a beautiful name! I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Ah I love that." he said wistfully.

Eponine stood and tried to make her way tot he door.

"You don't want to go out there Eponine."

"Why not?"

"They're looking for people who were involved in the revolution. That includes you."

"I need to go..." she whispered.

"And what's so important you need to return to so badly?"

Eponine looked down, no idea how to respond.

"Ah... The revolution took your last thing to return to, didn't it?"

"Marius..." she choked.

"I am truly sorry Eponine." the Doctor said with such pure sincerity she couldn't make herself doubt him. "Eponine, would you like to travel with me?"

"Around the world?" she asked, looking up.

The Doctor grinned. "Not exactly. More like... Everywhere. I can take you everywhere and every when."

"What do you mean?"

"Past, present, and future. I can take you there."

Okay, now Eponine really needed to leave. She turned towards the door and ran out in a panic.

"Eponine!" the Doctor called.

Eponine didn't make it far before she noticed that this was not France. People were looking at her in concern.

"Are you okay miss?" an elderly woman asked Eponine, her gaze on the blood the decorated Eponine's clothing.

"Ah! Eponine! Come on! We'll be late for rehearsal!" the Doctor came up and grabbed Eponine's arm. He tugged her towards a blue box and pushed her in, shutting the door behind them.

Eponine stood there, her breaths fast and panicky. "That was not France!"

"It was New York. Year 2012. Interesting year actually."

Eponine trembled. "Year... 2012?"

"Yes. I told you I can travel through time. Some inspector was searching around and I had to move. This was the first place I came to."

"Time. You can move through time." Eponine said, the entirety of the situation dawning on her.

"Exactly."

"Marius!" she cried, clutching the Doctor's jacket. "You can take me back! I can save Marius!"

Before she finished the Doctor was shaking his head. "No Eponine. It's a fixed moment in time. I can't take you back."

"What do you mean?"

"I can go back, but I can't change it. At all. I can't let you change it either."

Eponine let him go and stumbled back. "No. He needs to live. He deserves a long life. Not me. I'm alone. He's loved." she felt her legs begin to fail her.

The Doctor was at her side, holding her up. "I'm sorry Eponine. I truly am sorry. If I could I would take you back in a heartbeat." he whispered.

Eponine trembled in his arms. "Why me? Why me?" she whispered over and over.

"I don't know Eponine. I truly don't."

"I need him." Eponine whimpered.

"I know. I completely understand."

"What do you mean?"

"That, my dear, is a story for another time." he said gently. "But, the question is, do you want to travel with me?"

Eponine paused, took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yes. I have no one else to return to."

The Doctor grinned. "Allons-y!"

Eponine loved traveling with the Doctor in the TARDIS which just so happened to be bigger on the inside. Her favorite times with the Doctor weren't when they were running on their adventures, which was fun, but she loved talking to him. He knew so much and could empathize with her on so many levels. It took her a while, but she got him to spill the beans on how he understood her loss so well.

"I had another companion before you. Her name was Rose. Rose Tyler. She was my pink and yellow human." the Doctor smiled.

Eponine sat there in her nightgown with her legs folded beneath her. "What was she like?"

"Such a spitfire, and she always knew when something was wrong. I never had to say anything because she knew. I could try laughing through it was a well placed smile and a convincing lie, but later she'd ask me how I was really doing. She never left me behind. Once I tried to send her home and she came right back, nearly died because of it." he smiled fondly, but then he frowned and that pained look people who'd seen too much got came back to his eyes. "But I lost her."

"What do you mean?"

"She's gone. I didn't take good care of her."

Eponine nodded. "How did she die?"

"Oh, she's not dead. She's somewhere far, far away. Somewhere I can never reach, no matter how much want to. She's probably in a relationship with Mickey."

"Mickey?"

"Her childhood friend."

Eponine thought on this. She didn't think she ever could have let Marius go to Cosette. The Doctor was strong enough to let her go, which she knew she never could do.

"Now! Where should we go now?" the Doctor asked, his walls going right back up.

"Somewhere magical." Eponine grinned.

"Fantastic choice." he laughed.

Eponine giggled as he ran around the TARDIS console like the madman she knew he was.

She'd been with the Doctor for a year when she met the most terrifying and yet the most amazing aliens she thought she would ever meet. At first they were just statues, but then the Doctor told her that they were so much more.

"What do they do?"

"While you look at them they can't move, but if you look away they can. If they touch you, there is no doubt that they will send you back in time and feed off the time energy."

"Back in time." Eponine whispered.

"Eponine, no! I know what you're thinking, and the chance of you returning to your time, to that moment, is a billion to one!"

"I need to save him Doctor!"

"Eponine, don't. I can't come searching for you. You'll be lost to me. Lost in time. Do you understand the severity of that?"

"If you could, wouldn't you return to save Rose. Go back to the moment you lost her. If there was just a single chance wouldn't you do it?"

The Doctor stayed silent answering her question easily.

"See Doctor? Love isn't something you can turn on and off. If I can save him I have to. There's no thinking about it. There's only yes. There's only moving forward. I have to do it."

"Eponine, please don't. Stay. Travel with me."

"Doctor, I've made my choice. Please do something for me?"

"What is that?" he asked softly.

"Try to save your Rose. If you find a way, take it."

"I will."

"Promise."

"I promise."

Eponine took a deep breath and looked at him, her hands going over his eyes. "Thank you!"

Then she was gone...

France 1832

Eponine stood right where she did a year ago. She looked at Marius and her gaze moved to the gun she knew would bring the death of the love of her life. she was here! She made it!

She dove forward, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and felt the bullet pass through her chest. She gasped and lowered herself to the ground.

Her focus drifted and she put a hand to her chest. Wet. She was wet. Was it raining? She looked up and saw Marius' face. "Marius." she whispered. "Don't you fret. Monsieur Marius. I don't feel any pain. It's just raining." she smiled happily. "I'll be alright." her gaze wavered as she felt something pulling her away. her body convulsed. "I love you." her voice was soft and weak.

Marius kissed her forehead as tears fell down his face. "Sleep now Eponine. Just sleep."

Eponine's eyes closed and her head fell back limply. Her heart beat once... Twice... Nothing...

The Doctor stood in the rain and watched Eponine die with one tear falling down his face. She was gone. He couldn't save her. He can't ever save any of them. He turned and walked away, coat flapping in the wind. He had a universe to travel and an eternity of people to save.


End file.
